Comments on: Green Lake reacts to the proposed new Seattle Public School boundary maps

By: alexschiff

alexschiff — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:04:41 +0000

Thanks, I did sign up so hopefully I'll be able to figure out what's going on!

By: mygreenlake

mygreenlake — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:34:20 +0000

Hi alexschiff,

I highly recommend joining the yahoo group <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/McDonaldSchoolSea...>. Lots of information is being passed around, including the following, which addresses your question about whether the district will be be accepting parental input about programs:

"The current meetings are for questions/feedback on the new assignment plan. There will be no school specific meetings until after the 11/18 board meeting to approve the plan." [from the McDonaldSchoolSeattele yahoo group]

Good luck!

By: alexschiff

alexschiff — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:53:34 +0000

Do you know if parental input about programs at the new McDonald will be accepted from the district? Does anyone know what the Yahoo group is all about. I had my heart set on Bagely for my daughter because of it's Montessori program or Thorton Creek for it's experiential learning…I would love it if we could have something similar at our new school.
To the parents who are afraid of their kids going to different school, I totally support your efforts to get kids grandfathered in! Sometimes I think the district wants to make parenthood more difficult.

By: alexschiff

alexschiff — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:04:41 +0000

Thanks, I did sign up so hopefully I'll be able to figure out what's going on!

By: mygreenlake

mygreenlake — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:34:20 +0000

By: alexschiff

alexschiff — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:53:34 +0000

By: WallingfordMom

WallingfordMom — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:05:41 +0000

Sibling issues aside, I think this is a great opportunity for the upper wallingford/tangletown/lower greenlake neighborhood to create a fantastic school. Yes, the first few years will be at Lincoln which is less than ideal, but ultimately McDonald school is in a great location which is walking distance for a great number of families.

By: latonamom

latonamom — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:13:54 +0000

I live a block from McDonald and have a 4month old, and I'm so excited to learn that she will be able to attend elementary school so close to home. Guaranteed. As a new parent learning about the crazy Seattle Schools system where you might not go to school near your house I was really worried. But now I'm thrilled! I remember touring the building years ago and meeting an older gentleman who talked about the days when both Greenlake and McDonald were full of kids. I kept saying it seemed like there was a baby boom in the neighborhood. I moved here in 1995 and it was all rentals and senior citizens. Now it's 30 somethings and baby strollers.

By: Green Lake Parent

Green Lake Parent — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:05:23 +0000

We are a busy household that is happily established at Green Lake Elementary. Under the new boundary area, our youngest child will now attend John Stanford. I cannot fathom sending my kids to different schools. It's unproductive, disruptive and I can't figure out how I will be at 2 schools at once. (for drop off, pick up, conferences, fundraising, etc.) This is asking too much of the many supportive families of the Seattle Public Schools.
I'm guessing TrickyCoolJ either doesn't have children or is set in a boundary area that isn't affected by the new SAP. It's easy to tell us that change is good when your household is not disrupted.

By: Name

Name — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:47:44 +0000

TrickyCoolJ,

Thank you for your perspective. If kids are given the skills of resiliency, I agree they will survive.

Our family in a different situation, however, as we live in the area on the east side of I-5 that is now in McDonald's attendance area. No neighborhood friends walking to and from school for us. A highway and rather seedy University District lie between our home (formerly in Bryant's reference area) and McDonald. Our neighborhood, University Park, has also been bisected by the new boundary line. Furthermore, I do not trust that the district will approve sibling grandfathering, so my children, one of whom is a first grader thriving at Bryant, and the other an incoming (2010) kindergartner may be split up and sent to school in opposite directions.

I must say I have nothing against McDonald and believe it has a lot of potential. In some ways, it would be very exciting to be on the ground floor of building a new school community. The north end needs the classroom space, and it has to come from somewhere.

My beef comes with disrupting families already engaged in a school community, and the district not drawing the boundaries using logical and historical neighborhood borders. I think it is a stretch for SPS to include our neighborhood in a Latona school's attendance zone.